Almost Home (with flight info)

Yep i will be home soon! its actually in 6 weeks. or thats what i thought. And dont worry i will be ready to tell yall all about my mission. Banana pudding sounds good too. anything but rice and beans lol. jk. i think i will make you guys a typical Brazilian meal. it will be way good!. and the phone call was great. my last one on the mission too! So transfers were today and me and my comp stayed!!. So this is my last area! And my comp goes home next transfer, so this is his last area too. So this weekend me and my comp have 2 baptisms confirmed!. CONFIRMED!! They are Golden!!. So we are keeping up with 2 wards. and we have a baptism for each ward this weekend. i will send you pictures after!. But dont worry im ganna finish my mission well!. But i will look for the nativity scene for you. i hope they still sell them!!! but my week was well. Oh ya a guy in my ward here got called to serve in Fortaleza!. he leaves this next week!. we are ganna take a picture together and he is ganna look for Britney and show it to her! But ya that was pretty much my week. i told you guys everything on the phone!. have a great week

Elder Arroyo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flight info-



TAM LINHAS AEREAS 09FEB CURITIBA PR SAO PAULO SP 315P 425P
JJ 3328 WEDNESDAY AFONSO PENA GUARULHOS INTL
NON SMOKING SNACK NON STOP
RESERVATION CONFIRMED 1:10 DURATION
AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200

DELTA AIR LINES 09FEB SAO PAULO SP ATLANTA GA 1035P 530A
DL 104 WEDNESDAY GUARULHOS INTL HARTSFIELD JAC 10FEB
NON SMOKING DINNER NON STOP
RESERVATION CONFIRMED 9:55 DURATION
AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-400
SEAT 42B NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

DELTA AIR LINES 10FEB ATLANTA GA JACKSON MS 814A 836A
DL 5068 THURSDAY HARTSFIELD JAC EVERS INTL
NON SMOKING NON STOP
RESERVATION CONFIRMED 1:22 DURATION
FLIGHT OPERATED BY ASA DBA DELTA CONNECTI
AIRCRAFT OWNER: EV ATLANTIC SOUTHEAST
AIRCRAFT: CANADAIR REGIONAL JET
SEAT 12B NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

Christmas Phone Call.....he coming home in 46 days!!!

My missionary sacrificed last week's pday so he could take Christmas off. It was great hearing his voice and the plans that he has when he gets home. He received his flight plans and will be flying out of Curitiba on February 9th and coming in to Jackson airport on the 10th. He will be returning with only the clothes on his back and leaving everything behind. Instead he will fill his bags with momentos of his two years serving the Lord and the people in Curitiba.
The countdown begins....46 days......

but ya this was my week, wet and tiring..

Whoo! you found a barney!!! ok So it would be a lot safer if you sent it to me. I can give it to them. I'm pretty sure i will stay in this area. if not its no problem to get it to them. They only have one kid hes 3 i think. He loves barney. 
im ganna call you guys from the church. The bishops office so there wont be anyone there. just my companion. sorry no singing. but i will prolly call in the afternoon. next week you will have more info. i will even call to confirm!. 
This week was wet! It rained a ton. Man i got soaked 2 days in a row!. it  just got cold too!. But i know it will start to get hot again. So yesterday we went to an area in our zone called "Lapa". we did whats called a "blitz" when a bunch of missionaries go into one area and teach to give the set of missionaries there  a boost!. Man its like in the boonies. We took a bus and it took us 2 hours to get there!. And everyone there is catholic. but it was great!. Tomorrow we have our Christmas conference!. I cant wait, its ganna be sweet. but ya this was my week, Wet and tiring.. untill next week!
LOVE 
Elder arroyo

for my birthday we had a bar-b-que

WOW!!!. How should i start off today.... Last week was nuts!. Let me tell you, me and my companion worked our butts off!!! We taught a lot of lessons and 17 of them were with a member present!. My District leader challenged the disctrict to teach 20 with member, 10 first lessons (The Restoration) mark 8 baptisimal dates and do our 210 contacts 70 addresses!!! Me and my comp got so close. the other missionaries didnt even get half of it!. But we also had a baptism this past sunday!. It was also just amazing. A Golden Family! an inactive member found us on the street a couple of weeks ago and said he had just moved into the neighborhood and wanted to know where the church was. so we told him and he said his wife wasnt a member. so long story short, we taught her and she got baptised.!. She read the book of mormon in 1 week!!!. They already gave us lunch and a present for the baptism!. A box of chocolate!!. Then for my birthday we had a barb-e-que and they gave me a soccer jersey!. It was sweet!. But our week was full! Nuts!. And wow it was so great to read those facebook comments thanks for sending them mom. But man do i miss home! Seeing all my old friends!. But here in 7 weeks ill be back. ive got the biggest farmers tan too!. its nasty!. but today is packed. Me and my comp are ganna go to lunch with the same family (Who got baptised sunday) They are taking us out to a restaurant in Center of Curitiba, Then i got to practice for the choir then our choir will sing in the mall in Curitiba. I will try to get a video!! but i got to go now cuz the bus takes forever! Love you guys and hope yall have  a great week!. Oh and start plannig how yall will talk with me and chris for christmas!!! thats 2 Phone calls and no i dont want to have a conference call together lol Love ya
Elder Arroyo

p.s this family returned to church and the mom got baptised. asked me if yall can send them a stuffed barney. cuz here they are like 200 reais and there i know they are cheap!. They said they would pay for it but i know you guys are nice and can send it! Right? let me know! 

This will be an interesting last area

Oh ya!!! My last area! Or so i hope. I still have one more transfer after this one so i could get transfered, We will have to see. But i like this area a lot. Its like a dessert to me. We have 2 baptismal dates that are firm for this weekend. This ward is way cool too. The members learned my name quick!. But from what i have heard and seen, there are a lot of young women in our ward and we (missionaries) have to watch out. Last Sunday, a girl looked at me with a big smile and i laughed, turned, and walked away. This will be an interesting last area. But dont worry im fine here. So ya, here in Tatuquara pretty much everyone skateboards!. Every kid thats on the street is skating. We even have a skatepark in our area. Its cool though cuz theres only a couple of people here who are good. I havent skated yet but who knows i might have to start doing some skating contacts... but what stinks is i left my skate shoes in my last area!!!!! i was thinking... i will never skate on the mish again. But its chill.  but thats sweet that Uncle Steve is going through the temple for the first time!. Will i get back in time to see his wedding?!?! i want too!. !!! Hey Stevie! It´s the fun bus!!!.. I´m waiting for that ingraved invitation! ~The Cable Guy~  and thats so tight that chris´s new comp is from Curitiba... i want to know what part!. and i bet he is having a ton of baptizing there. I heard they just throw people in the water up there!!! I bet its way hot too!. i am dying here!!! And when it gets hot here it turns into like Babylon (Babylonia) !! Ya my new comp is ELDER LOPES. he is a brasillian. Hes from Rio Grande Do Sul. oh and mom. i prolly wont send anymore pics :) Lets just wait till i get home. Here is kind of a ghetto and like... lets just say that people die here... often... lol. i dont want my camera to get stolen. oh and i bought you a present..! i dont remember if i told you! Oh and remember if you ever want to put money on my card... dont hesitate!! i need it!! See ya..

Até a Proxíma Semana

Te Amo

Elder Arroyo

i have been called Zone Leader!!.

Yep so today i got transfered. I am currently in Tatuquara, which is in Curitiba!. My new companion is Elder Lopes and i have been called Zone Leader!!. So now if you could imagine my mind is just lost and theres just too much for me to think about. But im excited and ready to baptize even more than before!. But this last week was awsome! We almost baptized last Sunday!. We didnt have anyone marked or ready until we went to church. I decided to go to the other sacrament meeting cuz im supposed to keep track of the other ward also and while i was there a lady came up to me and was like.... Elder there is someone here who wants to be baptised! and i was like oh sweet we will mark to teach him. So i get to him and he is in a suit and has a priesthood manual. so i start to talk with him and find out that missionaries were teaching him but he wasnt ready for baptism. So then i was like do you want to be baptised? and he was like yes. so i do like this mini baptismal interview with him and he didnt have any problem and i was like we will have a baptismal meeting today if you want to you can be baptised today. Is that what you want? and he was like.. Yes!. but bishop said he wanted him to hear all the lessons again so Elder Hope will baptize him this sunday!!! What Luck huh? but ya so our week was good!!! Oh and mom i bought you a present. its santa clause chilling in a lawn chair lol. its a statue! you will see it in 3 months!! but ya thats it!

Love you guys

Elder Arroyo

New Pictures, Email under pictures

Elder Arroyo and Elder Hope at the
Curitiba Temple Today

Elders Tavares, Carlos, Hope and Arroyo

Miracles are real!!!

How should I start of this email!? So many things happened this past week!. So we got to go to the Temple today! It was amazing like always!. Me and Elder Hope took some pictures of course!!. But it was sprinkling so I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted. I love to take pictures. I will defiantly take up Digital Photography for a Hobby!. We also had interviews with President today they were great also. But I might only go to the Curitiba Temple one more time!! Crazy!
So also yesterday was way nuts! It was a hot day but then these dark clouds started coming in and we had just picked up a member to walk with us and teach. Then i was like "Oh brother Flavio i think its going to rain." so we go and get 2 umbrellas and i was like no don't worry i will share with you. so were just walking then all of a sudden its like... rain drop.... rain drop... SHHHHHHHSHHH just a ton of rain. and the wind picked up a ton so the rain was like going sideways. so we get to this huge sign and stand by it then all of a sudden the rain starts getting stronger and the wind !! and were like oh man whats happening. And by this time we are soaked and were just leaning with are hands against the sign because the wind is blowing so hard. Then hail starts to fall!!! A ton of hail!!! and were just like getting pounded!!!! and I'm like looking down and I'm already like standing in a lake of water. Then i was like... "Brother Flavio there is a covering 1 block away. LETS RUN!!!! " Then before he could answer no. i ran!!! aww it was nuts. But for real it was like a hurricane!. I really thought it was a hurricane!!!. it was a cool experience though.
So going on with my great week. The LZ´s called me on Friday night and were like hey we looked in our area book and found some people that have been to church before!. (I´m the Zone leaders District Leader) and there like.. come to interviews someone could be ready!. so i was like OK. So i did the same thing. I looked in the area book and found 10 people that had been progressing well. then when My LZ got in my area i was like OK look i have so and so  and so that you can do interviews with. Go Crazy!!. But i had this one investigator (Maria's mom) that said she had to let some problems calm down a little bit until she could be baptised and she was like, "Here in 3 weeks ill get baptised. " so i was like.. OK that's fine. but then my LZ went there and just did her interview and she was like. Ya the church will help with my problems ok i will be baptised!! So We baptised this past weekend.! She chose me as well. That family just loves me!!!. But me and Elder Hope have baptised 5 together!! and it has been some work here!.
We have transfers here next week!!! I think i will get transferred. In my interview with president today he was like... Uhh well elder arroyo you never know what could happen but.... does elder Hope know the area very well and i was like.. don't worry he will be fine.

Thats tight that Jamie got his call to Tennesse though!!! Its where the Lord wants him to be!! and i cant wait to hang out with Nathan again!"!! The time is getting closer!!! and i cant wait to get my package mom!. i already started buying stuff. Today at the temple i bought : A primary scripture case for justin (in portuguese), A Portuguese Primary Hymm Book, Some Temple special edition liahonas and Christ Posters for my Recent converts!!!

But all is well here! Still working until the end! Untill next week and we will see if i get transfered!!!! Love you guys a ton! Pray for us!!
Love Elder Arroyo

P.S. Me and Elder Hope will buy pízza tonight to reward our work!!!

man its getting hot here. I feel bad for chris!!

Thats crazy that ryans already home!. Man I´m so stoked to be home in 3 months!!! The time just passes way quick!!. I still got a lot of things to do before i get home but dont worry the work here is comming along well!. Me and Elder Hope didnt baptise this past weekend. This week we are working for 2 baptisms!!. We will see this weekend!. So man its getting hot here lol. I feel bad for chris!! Ya he probobly is getting way tough out there. It will be sweet to talk in portuguese to him!

Leader Activity

 So destinee got a solo in the choir? Thats way sweet. I´m doing well in the chior. I´m still singing tenor and its just easy. All i have to do is look at the notes and i know what to sing. Thats what you get when you play guitar. I just hear the music in my head and just sing! So we will sing for christmas and it will be amazing. They already booked us 2 shows in this one mall in Curitiba! They are also working on booking a show for the new govenor of Paraná! (My state in Brasíl)! They said we will be on TV and yall will be able to watch us!! Sweet huh!. I will try to make myself visible and not be a fool at the same time lol.

Leaders

So holloween was good for you guys. Here they dont celebrate halloween. so it was normal for us!. Today we had an activity after choir practice!. but it was an activity for the leaders in my zone. My comp couldnt go! he was bummed. But we went to the Zoo and then ate ice cream after! it was pretty sweet. But ya pretty much everything here is giong well!. Nothing else happend this week. See ya!!

Elders Arroyo, Fillmore and 

Love,

Elder Arroyo

Parabens Elder i have never seen this happen before

You didn't send Chris an email!!! What kind of mom are you?!?!?! jk lol it happens. So that's pretty sweet that you guys had a general authority that came and spoke. Who was it? and is the ward doing a lot of missionary work? and ya we learn here that when we teach a really spiritual lesson that right after the lesson instead of staying around to talk to just leave. leave them with that good feeling and then they will miss it, and want it again. The Lord blessed me and Elder Hope with another baptism this week! His name is Antonio. He has a pre-school that he owns here! He is just an amazing person also. His baptism was great too. We were happy with it as well as our bishop. It was funny generally the baptismal water is cold because the missionaries are slackers and don't give the water time to heat but the opposite happened this past Sunday. i turned it on to heat and the water got hot!! when they opened the baptismal font steam just came out lol and they had to put cold water in. Our bishop was like whoa!! Parabens Elder i have never seen this happen before lol. it was funny!. but ya me and Elder Hope are still working on our goal for 7 baptisms this month. we have 3 we just need 4 more!! We will see this next Sunday!!! Pray for our success! 
Oh and this past week i also got really sick... it was horrible. It started Friday night at about 11:30 i woke up and had to go to the bathroom because my stomach hurt. So hmm... to not like nasty everyone out i will talk slang. basically everything was comming out the "basement" and then i tried to go back to bed but i couldnt because of my stomach. so i like stood in the bathroom just breathing trying to calm my stomach. I had this feeling like "you are ganna throw up" but i was like NO NO NO... you cant throw up. you never threw up on the mission and your almost done. but then like after an hour of waiting i just looked at the toilet and........ uhh... ya know like... it came out the "Attic"!! but it was horrible. then i felt a little better and it was like 1:30 so then i went to sleep for like an hour then went back to the bathroom and basically stayed the diarriah and threw up 1 more time!! Lets just say that my night was long and just terrible! but i baptised and thats what counts! I think its cuz i was eating a lot of junk food lol. but the members say its not the food i eat but also the amount that i consume lololololol. but its all good! 
So mom your ganna send me another package? well one thing i would love is Oreos and peanut butter!!! that would be amazing! but i will think of things for you to put in it this week!!! and i dont think they have a bracelet at the temple but i will look.. if not i think i can get someone to make one!! i will see!! well that was pretty much my week! hope yall have a great week also! Love ya
Elder Arroyo 
P.S. And tell Kathie Olkoski thanks for the letter!!! and i dont need much but american snacks are always good!!!! little debbies!!!! and walmart fruit smiles!!!! 

Baptism!!!

Man me and Elder Hope are just putting people in the water!! We baptised one more this weekend!. Her name is Maria, she is our neighbor and we have been teaching this family for a while now. (Since i got here) Her mother also passed the baptisimal interview but has visitors on sunday at her house and didnt go to church. she will get baptised this sunday if she comes back from the beach. But we are doing some work here!!. So that stinks you didnt get to go to the chicago temple! i wanted to see pictures!. So how was Chicago and all? Did you get me anything? lol jk. So ya chris told me about being in Belem. It has to be nuts, but slowly he will get used to it. I gave him a bunch of advice. He was a homeboy though lol. and you were exacly right with me... except you forgot to say how Courageous i am and handsome... jk lol. but i never really did have homesick problems except for when i was on the plane leaving mississippi. i remember thinking... "Wow this is real!?!!" but now i will be home soon. I am getting so trunky!! the secrataries called me the other day and were like. Elder Arroyo what is the closest airport to your house in the USA and i was like...... Uhh Jackson i think and then i was like.. "Why?" and they were like we are buying your plane ticket and it just blew my mind. im getting close!!! but dont worry im still working hard!. But yes Elder Hope is doing good. He is learning more and more of the language each day. When people talk to him i dont have to speak for him anymore. so he is doing better. and ya me and him have until the 17th of November. That is the next transfer date. I might go to my Last area!!! but ya so that was pretty much my week. it was a good one. and mom wasnt your birthday on the 18th??? HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! or it could be on november?!" i get so confused! but hope you guys have a great week!!!


Elder Arroyo

NO DUDE you got CANDY!!!

Whoo! Chris got his visa!! i can finally send him this book i made!! So wow 20 hours on the plane is forever!!!. i bet he was thrashed lol!!. i bet its way hot there also. i feel for him. so it will be great to hear his stories now!! lets see how his portuguese will be also. So your in chicago huh? i bet thats pretty sweet!. I wanna see pictures of the temple there!. oh so i got my package!!! and THANK-YOU!!!! it was amazing. the best part was the SOCKS!!!! lol. man i got so excited i was like...... WHOO SOCKS and my Comps like... NO DUDE you got CANDY!!! lol. Thats the difference between a new missinoary and an old one.
but ya. So my week was good. We didnt have a baptism but this sunday we should. we have 3 peeps that can be baptised but 2 went to the beach and we dont know if they will be back before sunday.. and the other wants to be baptised next sunday but we will see. me and my comp are working our butts off also. The time is just passing  by just to fast. but hmm lets see a story for the week. Oh ya so like 2 weeks ago me and my comp were doing contacts and our investigator stopped to talk to us. (14 yeared old kid) then my companion went to do a contact and i let him do it alone cuz his portuguese is getting better then like 2 min after i feel this tug on my sleeve and my comp was like Elder Help me!! and i turn and this lady has her bible out and is trying to bible bash with my comp and my comp was like. "He speaks portuguese"and she was like... "Do you believe that God has flesh and bones" and i just smile and say "Sure Do!"and then she just starts rambling. then my investigator asked if she was catholic and i was just like no.. shes Jehovah's witness and then basically i watched a little doctrine fly between my investigator and the JW. but then we had marked another day with her and we passed by there last week......... WOW...... it was the lady and her mom and dad. all JW´s and then they just started to roll. Dont worry i didnt bible bash. but i just started to laugh in the middle. cuz my testimony was so strong. they couldnt do anything to me. He said to me at the end... "It looks like you learned nothing here son" and i responded "I´m sorry the spirit didnt testify anything to me" and i left with a smile. my comp after was like.... WHAT HAPPENED IN THERE?! 
 oh ya and today was choir... i tried out for the little group to sing in the front but like i got the shaft and didnt make it.... stunk so bad. so basically my singing career is over... :( but ya so i had a pretty good week. cant wait to hear from chris!! and about christmas. you can send that stuff you wanted to give to members. but what would be great for christmas is money on my card so i can start buying stuff to take home!!! but thats my week! thanks for everything! Love you guys!
Elder Arroyo

I got 4 Months left!!! Isnt that nuts!!!

Whoo!! What a great conference!! and my last General Conference on the mission!!!! And whats better then Conferenece??? Baptising between Conference!! WHOO!!! We baptised a 15 year old kid!!! it was great!!! 

So we had Transfers.... and me and Elder Hope will stay together here in Afonso Pena!. We are excited and have a goal to baptise 7 this month!! we got 1 down 6 more to go!! it will be great!. But man is time not winding down?? I got 4 Months left!!! Isnt that nuts!!! but im still working dont worry. and mom i am asking around for all that stuff you want! this one sister in the ward said she is making you a toilet seat cover for christmas. it has santa on both sides you will see!! but ya it will be good. So that sucks chris hasnt gotten his visa yet! but at least he is working. hope he knows that its 2 years of missionary work and not just 2 years of missionary work in belem. and thats nuts the missionarys that are leaving and comming home! 

Elder Hope and Elder Arroyo with a young man
and his family on his baptismal day.

Soon its me!!! and im ready. so ya my week went well. im still looking out for my package. i know its comming!!! and oh ya so i got to do a couple of baptismal interviews this past weekend and they are amazing to do!!! Its weird cuz in the interviews they tell you everything. and people like open up to me and i dunno. a baptismal interview is the best thing in the world. its way spiritual!. but ya so.. until next week
Elder Arroyo

Elder Arroyo, Cinthia and Elder Hope

Whoo last week was a good one. me and elder hope baptized a little girl her name is Cinthia!!! Elder Hope did the baptizm as well and he is way excited!!! so ya we will baptise 2 more 15 year old boys this next sunday and i am way excited for Conference!!!! 

Elder Hope and Elder Arroyo at the Zoo

its going to be great. but ya the choir started also and is going really well!! but i dont have too much time this week to talk but next week i will and next week is Transferes!!!! nuts!! Love you guys! have a great week! heres a picture of our baptism and a picture of us at the zoo. where at the bus stop at the zoo!

-- 
Love,
************************************************
   Elder Arroyo

we saw some sweet animals

NO!!! im waiting for my box though!! and man that sucks that Christopher didnt get his visa yet, but parabeins on the baptism!!. me and my comp got one lined up for this saturday and its for sure. and there is another kid we are working with who is so ready!!. So wow there are so many peeps going out on there missions!! its nuts. so you havent been in my room huh!?!? is it a mess? is my stuff still there?? thats funny that you say everyone asks when i am coming home lol. if they really cared... they would write me lol. but its cool. (hope i dont offend anyone :) ).  
that would be a sweet sticker.. the "Got Missionary?" 
 my week has been good. me and my comp just teaching... oh and we had stake conference last week and Elder Santana spoke. hes from the quorum of the 70. it was great. and i saw all the peeps from my last branch there. (its the same stake) and my recent convert Sandra was there. she is doing well. So ya then today we had choir practice.. which i almost tried out for a Solo but then i got scared and backed down. what a loser i know.... but dont worry if there is another solo im in!. and i will sing in the little group after the try-out also!. then after choir practice me and my comp and another set of missionares went to the Zoo!!! and it was way cool. we saw some sweet animals. exotic animals also.. dont worry i took 150 pictures! i will send you some next week. i have taken.. i think.. 2000 pictures so far. it doesnt seem like a lot to me so i am trying to take more. and i got tonz of videos too. but ya that was pretty much my week.!!! hope yall have a great week also!. 
Elder Arroyo

you never know whos watching!!!

so ya this weak was good me and my comp talked to a lot of people on the street! My comp is a beast now doing contacts. and i just kinda turn away when he starts to talk so i make him do the contact alone in portuguese. it seems harsh but he does very well alone and the people just love it!!. So ya we had an investigator at church and he is amazing. hes reading the book of mormon and loves it last week we encountered him on the street and he was like "Dude that book you gave me is amazing!! i feel so much peace in that thing!!" and we taught this 16 year old girl.. she is a reference from a member and without a doubt she will get baptized!!! she excepted the date for the 26th and Elder Hope will definitly do the baptism! so our week is going good me and Elder Hope are really excited!! So i had just started learning spanish i dont know if i told you guys!! i was so excited! i had bought a dictionary (Portuguese to spanish) and everything. but then i asked the mission president and he said no that i should focus on portuguese and learn it as well as i can.. I was sad and am still. but hes the man so i will study portuguese to master it even more. basically i just have to study big words. but ya so my week was great. oh ya and the choir started again!!! its to get ready for christmas and im singing tenor again. they had try-outs and i made the cut!! its tight and im ganna sing in the little group or so i hope. we have try-outs for that next week!! but ya i love singing.. but ya so thats whats up here!! thanks for everything and just remember to stay firm in the church and to obey all the comandments you never know whats in our front. We are a big influence on a lot of people.. once we stray from the path other people follow!. My greenie does everything i do... i mean everything! if i have a long sleeve he does too if i fold my arms one way he does the same so i have to do everything exacly right!! you never know whos watching!!! but i love you guys! have a great week!!


Elder Arroyo

NO YOU CANT FAINT

A holiday!!! independence day is a holiday for everyone except missionaries. but we went and had a zone activity and played soccor! man let me tell ya im the worst at soccor. and we play in a fenced in court so its like close up stuff!!. but ya so you have the flu? that stinks. i got some kind of bug the other day. it was monday and me and my comp ate at the house then when we went to leave like i had walked for 4 min and then i got all dizzy. and i was like "whoa dude im about to faint " and my comps like "NO NO YOU CANT FAINT"  and we were like 2 houses from our appointment so we just went there. and we left a little message and then we went home. i called Sister Cordon and she was like you prolly got a bug. but ya i was like weak for 2 days, dizzy and all. but im good now!. when i get home after emailing here i think i will eat then sleep till 6:00. but ya other than that we had a good weak!. So wow thats tight that chris got transfered to San Jose, California! i still hope he gets his visa here soon though!. i just started learning spanish. i asked my zone leader to get me El Libro de Mórmon! im excited. so ya we will see if i speak fluent spanish by the time i get back!. So hows the house. is it quiet? i bet with no one there!.. but ya mom so what exacly do you want from brazil again?? but ya that was my week! Love you guys!

Elder Arroyo

9/1

This week was great me and my comp just worked and worked a ton. He is learning portuguese pretty quick. whats good is he isnt afraid to do his contacts!! but he still looks to me desperatly when he doesnt understand someone. but that will be for a couple of weeks still. but he is doing great!. ya we are looking for someone to baptise.... man we are working and working and working but its like little outcome is coming out!!. ive never prayed so much in my life. but i know we will be blessed here soon!. so have you guys sent my package? i havent sent dads tie tack yet. but ya the mission is going great. how is chris doing? that stinks he hasnt gotten his visa yet!. oh ya we had a zone conference yesterday and we had an area authority. Elder Mazargadi or something. it was pretty cool!. but ya that was my week. how is home?
so i got 2 min. you emailed me late. great justin has a game!! wish i could see him play and ya i might try to send you guys seeds in the mail with like no return address. and ya that instrument cory albert was talking about is called like a bin e bala. i might buy one. but ya im roughing my new comp up. teaching him the good stuff. but my times almost up. have a great week. 
Love,
************************************************
   Elder Arroyo

one lady was telling everyone she was ganna die lol (bus ride with new comp)

1. whoo!! im on!! so we had transfers and Elder Amaron got transfered! He was sad but left happy as well. and guess who my new companion is..... Elder Hope!. fresh out of the CTM. I got called to train and so far im loving it. He is from Rexberg Idaho. but now i bet the time will really fly by. it was so funny though. we had to bus back to my area and it took us 3 hours!!!! it was the longest bus ride ever. the buses were packed and my comp had all his luggage and people were like getting squished lol. one lady was telling everyone she was ganna die lol. but all in all we made it home and an investigator had a dinner planned for us so we went there and my comp understood nothing lol. just had a smile on and listening well. but he did the closing prayer!! ya hes great. we got home and hunted oranges from our trees in the frontyard and made fresh orange juice


2. i bet chris just wants out. but dont worry his language skills will be fine. he just needs to study hard. it is another language. like reading the book of mormon out loud and stufff. but ya he will do just fine. and thats crazy you saw katie rowe. she still writes me. and ya i heard katie thompson went to byu.
im fine out here. im really excited now with my new comp!!



3. ya i just got my comp yesterday!. and i cant wait for that package!!. remember starburst skittles.. laffy taffys are good. i like fruity candy. or snickers.. reeces.. twisslers... i want candy!!!!!


4. just fill it up as much as you can mom!! i dont wanna see any cracks or spaces!!!!. im TRAINING!!! i want candy so bad!!!!. I hope my holloween box will be huge!!!
 
5. oh justin i miss that kid. and tell him im coming home soon and to practice his soccer. i wanna bring him a brazil jersey home!!!. but my times up! love ya till next week!
 
Love,

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Elder Arroyo

he always tries to steal my beenie to sleep in 8/18

lol dont worry im all over the seed stuff. il come home with a ton of sweet stuff. im comming home with only goodies!. so wow preston is going to los angeles! Spanish Speaking!! thats way tight too. and i bet the crime is intense there...... but mom i dunno if i told you but like every day here someone is talking about some one who killed someone here close. when i was in my second area it was way scary.. you just got to talk to everyone and be friends with everyone! but ya the area is going well. we are working with some peeps to baptise here but all in all its going well. the people here are kinda closed. there are few who want our message, but there elects! my comp suffers in the cold. but hes tuff. he always tries to steal my beenie to sleep in. District leader is great. i like leading. but my district is so small. cuz theres like 2 areas in it that are closed so its just me my comp and another set of missionaries. so about my package.. what do i need. you can send me deodorant. 3 sticks!. some socks cuz there always good and..... 2 bottles of maple extract cuz there are families that want to trade stuff for it. and then just fill up stuff. heres another picture of me.

 i took it today and the other is a family i baptized. the one about the coxinha that exploded is the lady. so mom. what all do you want from here.. give me a list!. ill talk with the relief society to help me out and find it all. but my week was great. we got transferes next wednesday so we will see what happens! have a great week! love you guys
Elder Arroyo

i passed my 1 year and 6 month mark!!!

man cant wait to hear where preston will go. that will be tight. and wow uniforms. thats got to be nuts. everyone here uses uniforms. it doesnt look to bad. i havent been asking cuz i have been waiting. but im actually about to buy somthing here so you dont have to send me anything. but actually i will need more deaodorant. im on my last stick and i cant use brasillian stuff. its just horrible! so ya like deodorant and thats pretty much it. i wont ask for much stuff so you guys can just put money on the card so i can bring cool stuff home. ! how are you guys at home? everything chill. but this week went well. we found a really great family. there well off with money and they pay a lot of attention to our message. they even made us a cake after the lesson!!! it was amazing! and dont worry im getting a ton of recipes for ya. and i will get some seeds for grandpa!. i got it all worked out. but nothing much else happened this week. oh i passed my 1 year and 6 month mark!!! whoo im coming home already!!!! love you guys
Elder Arroyo

its FREEZING!! 8/4

ya mom so like i can buy that stuff for you cuz its little. but once im in like my last transfer i will go nuts and buy tonz of stuff. cuz im not taking any clothes home. im ganna give them to my comp. towels sheets... im taking none of that home. just cool brazilial stuff and my books. but ill start working on buying little stuff now. so my bite was a false alarm and yes i took the medicine right. and those psychos so far so good. and ya sisters always get marriage invites here. brasillians go right for it. so my shoes are doing well. ive been walking a lot and my feet hurt sometimes but its normal. but those eckos i had i have to say were better. but these shoes should last me till the end of my mission!. so today i went to the temple and it was AMAZING of course. except its been raining and let me tell ya its FREEZING!! i bought a new sweater thats why i took the money out. but it was way cheap 10 Bucks!! Whoo yall will see pics. i look like a high class pretty boy lol. but ya its getting really cold here. oh and i got a package!! from the MCFadden Family!!! THANKS!!!!! i will send them a thank you card !!! surprise packages like that are amazing!!. So how are you guys! hows is chris doing... from what he writes hes doing well! but i dont have much more time! Love you guys and until next week!!! TCHAU TCHAU!
Elder Arroyo

so check this....

WHOO!!! last week was great me and my comp started to go running with our investigator!!! he has some problems with sleeping at night so i came up with the idea to run with him in the mornings. so we wake up at 6:15 in the morning and run to his house then he runs around like 5 blocks with us then we come back and we go home to get ready for the day. we run every other day. and he says he is sleeping better at night now!!! ya! his baptism date is marked for the 22 of august! the missionaries have been teaching him for a while i have heard! . so ya last sunday me and my comp baptised our investigator/newly member... Sueli, she is wonderful but the water was cold cuz me and my comp almost forgot to fill the baptisamal font :). but it went well.

 the USB on the computer doesnt work so i cant send you guys pics!! i got a new shirt this week from Sueli´s son. hes a skater and has been getting like 2nd and 3rd in some competitions and gave me a shirt!! its tight.

 so ya this next sunday we have another baptism lined up . its a girl named Renata. shes 19 and shes readier than can be!! we did her interview yesterday and she passed and is excited. she chose me to do the baptism so ill send you guys that pic next P-day too!!. 
so check this.... Last night me and my comp are walking to our last appointment that we marked close to our house but like when we were going home there was this car with a bunch of dudes in it that like acted like they were ganna hit me so they like swerved into me right and i jump back and hes like ya watch out pretty boy!! and they all laugh and i just about like pee´d my pants ya know so me and my comp continue and then theres like 3 guys outside of a bar and theyre looking at us with that like " im ganna rob you look" and im like no man! and my comp sensed it too and was like "hey, lets cross the street and im like ya" so we cross the street and start walking fast! then i pass another street and i see that car that tried to hit me and im like oh crap!!! so were walking faster and me and my comp are feeling horrible... like knowing something really bad was ganna happen so im like praying in my head!!. NO NO NO!! please dont let them rob me and we just keep walking keep walking and we get to the corner which has a baptist church on it.. so i start thinking ok im ganna turn around and if there coming im just ganna go into the church. but i turned around and they were like walking back... WHOA! it was pretty scary!! the streets are dark here but im alright.!! but the work here is going really well. and wow my 1 year and 6 month mark is comming up! nuts huh! but ya so that was my week. its going great here. and wow thats crazy that nathans home and did his homecomming talk and all! too bad he doesnt email me anymore :( . but ya. well i got to go cuz im hungry!!! lol. tchau tchau.
Elder Arroyo oh ya and im learning Capuera! its a brazilian fight!! my comp is nuts at it!! 



Love,
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   Elder Arroyo


*eight minutes later*
USB works!!! heres some pics!


 oh ya and i forgot to tell you guys that sunday night i got bit by some weird insect! i didnt see the bug!  but when i got to my investigators house i looked at my leg and there was 2 fang marks.

 it must have happened on the street. but theres a ton of brown recluses here so you have to take this type of thing seriously!  so my investigator was like  no you got to go to the health clinic down the road so i went there and i waited  and waited then the doctor started to talk to me and said that she had to treat it like if it was a brown recluse so im taking medicine for 5 days. it was nuts!!! but im doing well health is good


 Love,
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   Elder Arroyo

7/21

Sweet that you got a new job!! marketing coordinator. way cool. and ya i got my package. ill tell you though at first it was a downer cuz i saw my shoes and was like what is this?!?!?! looking at my new shoes and the last shoes that you guys had given me and i was like whoa what a downgrade lol. then thinking aww wait chris is on his mission and i had saw on the debit card that yall bought eckos for chris. but after putting my shoes on i loved them. they will be just great! and ill be comming home soon so they will last me all the way till home. so being an District leader has been great. getting on peoples back and stuff. and this past monday and tuesday we had leadership meetings that our mission pres said went out worldwide. it was way tight. but ya so me and chris are talking and sounds like hes doing well out there!!! cant wait to hear him on the phone next mothers day!! speaking portuguese!. .  but ya so my comp is way cool. *** I think Jimmy's email got cut off because he didn't sign Elder Arroyo at the end and it stopped mid sentence. ALSO his brother DID NOT get eccos but the same shoes we sent Jimmy and they are great walking/ tracking shoes from missionshoes.com***

Elder Cox (companion in the Provo MTC) and Elder Arroyo

Chris Left So I dont get emails??? 7/14

Whoa come on i only got 7 Months left! just a couple more emails! ya so my email will be short cuz i got nothing to respond too. So today is transfers but let me tell you about my week first. last sunday we baptized Maria! she was just a saint. just someone ready for baptism. it was sad though like no one went to her baptism i dunno if it was cuz the world cup game was on or what but at the baptism it was me and my comp and our zone leaders and a member family from the zone leaders ward. but it was a wonderful baptism. she chose me to do the baptism, and my comp sang her a solo (elder skabelund) it was good. so then it was monday and they called us about transfers and me and elder skabelund got transfered and they closed "São Marcos" so me and elder skabelund had to say goodbye to everyone! it was nuts. i took a ton of pictures packed my bags. I got transfered to "Afonsa Pena" its still here in São José Dos Pinhaís. so i didnt go far. my new companion is "Elder Amaron" and guess where hes from????? Belém (Belem where chris is going!) ya what are the odds ya know!!! Hes from the "Castanheira stake", and the "Castanheira ward" in the town "Tapanan" so if chris goes there thats where my comps family lives! way cool huh? So ya me and him are comps and i got called District Leader too! Whoa exciting huh? im ready to do some baptisimal interviews!!! crazy!. but ya so my week was crazy!. oh ya lunch on sunday was out on that one guys farm and wow i took a ton of pictures! like 100 pics. for real. and i got some good ones. i just dont got my camera with me. man an sounds like chris is liking it a lot there!!! i want to send him that binder i just dont know whether to send it to provo or to são paulo? tell him to just keep studying the portuguese and cherish every moment!! but ya so that was my week. 

oh and about britneys email lol. its so funny to hear about someone else starting out there new brazil life. everything she said is so true. but she hasnt said anything about the brazilian pizza yet! nuts. but ya where britneys at is way different than where i am. im like city easy life.. Curitiba is like almost america. just still has the toilet paper problom lol. 

Chris is gone!

Yes you guys didnt forget me! So ya thats nuts that Chris is off to the MTC he better forward his emails to me! so how was it to let him off? were there a lot of people at the airport? it will be great to hear his stories and see how he is with learning portuguese. So you cried when he left. did you cry when i left? 
so here our 4th of july was like a normal day. me and my comp didnt remember until like 6 o clock that night. but so ya we got our new mission president this week! His name is President Cordon. Hes great too. He used to work for Adobe so it will be interesting to talk to him. hes ganna do great here. so ya i havent gotten my package yet but im still waiting. i hope it gets here soon. its been luck that its not raining. my feet would get soaked. 
so about the gang stuff. so far me and my comp our safe. i get kinda scared sometimes at night cuz here it gets really dark at night cuz they dont have a lot of lights and it gets foggy too. let me tell ya its like living in a scary movie but i always loved scary movies. but the Lord is on our side. 
So let me tell you about p-day. we went to a recent converts house. His name is José and he is an artist. so it was his birthday monday and he wanted us to go out to a restaurant with him on p-day so we went to his house and he was like hey do you guys wanna paint something first and i was like YAH! ive always wanted to paint and he has like legit stuff. so he gave me a canvas and my comp a picture frame with wood in it and we went at it. i knew it would take a while so i was like hey can you just order food and he was like ya we will do that. so we just painted all day! it was amazing i love to paint. im not to bad at art either. ill take it up as a hobby. so as for my singing. i still sing all the time.  but ya so that was my week. transfers are next week so well see what will happen. but its nuts that i only got 7 more months left and that nathan will be home soon!. but love you guys stay strong
Love
Elder Arroyo

prayers would help a lot

Ok sweet so my stuff is still intact... thats a relief. so ya this week was a good one. exept my mission president is leaving already but it will be interesting with a new one. . even american!. Crazy. but ya so check this.. theres like 2 gangs here one on one side of the highway and another on the other and theyre getting all riled up so they started killing peeps.. ... but just killing the gang members but they dont like to let people walk across the highway, people that live in one neighborhood to the other but so far people dont stop us or normal people from walking but everyone here gets scared. but were talking with people and praying for safety but your prayers would help a lot too. dont forget about me. i know chris is about to go to Belem but i still got some time out here and ya so i never got my package. hope it didnt get janked... i just want my new shoes!!  but ya this week was good. and tell chris to send me some cool tabs with lyrics.. songs i would know. i need some relaxing stuff to play here. like jack johnson or like dashboard confessional. that would be sweet. well i got to get out and work now.. thanks for everything mom!! tchauzão!

Elder Arroyo

thats what they call "snake" here

Hey Thanks for the pictures! i was ganna ask you for some! so no we dont get to watch the game. our president was like no you guys can get a lot of work done during that time. but wow were the people going crazy or what. everyone has brazil flags on the houses cars everything. soccer is so funny.
 so let me tell you about my week first... WOW!. so lets start with the almost bad news. we were preparing a family to get married right... but she started working on sundays so we couldnt help her anymore cuz shes got to be obeying the commandments for us to help pay for it. so it was a week from the wedding on monday and we went to the wedding office here in central and i was like hey we got to move the date for the wedding and the guy looks at me and was like.... "Oooooh we cant do that!" like all funny like and i was like look dude were moving it so we talked for a while and he didnt move a thing so i talked to my branch pres and he said he would go. he went there friday and the wedding was on the next day (Saturday) and he told them we had to move it explained it all and there like OK come monday to resign the papers and mark a new day so we go to our investigators house to tell them it wouldnt be saturday and we had told them to be on standby and when we got there she was like. that lady from the wedding place called and confirmed everything with me for the wedding saturday. so she thought it was going on and had rented a dress bought a ton of food for the party. they had gotten work off and told everyone and i was like.... WHAT?!?!? and explained it wouldnt go down saturday. so shes like. what!!! and they got all sad and we told them we would see what was up the next monday for the wedding. so we went by there saturday night to see how they were and our investigator came out and was like ya so we didnt leave our house today to not get humiliated and we dont want you guys to come to our house anymore etc... and i was getting all sad ya know cuz i helped them so much. so we were like well all of us still have to go to the wedding place to see whats up ya know. so i was like ill go there and if we have to pay anything me and my comp will do it. so monday comes around and we get there and our investigator is already there and gives me this mean face and im like oh great... so i walk over there and the wedding lady was like ya it didnt go down saturday cuz someone called and said the wedding couple would travel.... i was like "what!" so our ivestigator is mad thinking we lied and stuff and the wedding lady is taking her side and says doing the wedding or canceling it it will be 160 reais! and i was like. bull! so we keep talking and then they want to mark a date and i dont know what to do right... so i go outside and i call my mission president and explain the situation. and hes all calm with me and walking me through what i should do. and hes like. you dont have to do anything elder arroyo. you are just trying to help her obey the commandments. if she doesnt want the churches help she can pay the wedding herself etc. and he tells me to go in there and just talk to my investigator and not to listen to the wedding lady. so we marked with our investigator and the branch president to see if they wanted help. so tuesday came around and we had this little meeting and everything was explained and all the members will help pay the wedding and they are good with us now. our investigator said when she told us she didnt want us to come back. she felt bad and all the good feelings she had that we helped her have she said went away. we told her we would have the wedding money by next week and if she wanted us to be there it was her choice. if she wanted to get baptized it was up to her. so its all been worked out but wow!!! let me tell ya it was nothing easy... but now i know that not everyone business (like this wedding place) is organized. they dont call to verify nothing and they change ideas. telling one person you can move the date and another no... it was tense.
 but some better news. so my last area vila izabel right. i had tought this in-active family that had someone who hadnt been baptized yet. her name is mahala shes like 17. so i was just here in my area right and then i get a call from the assistants and they were like hey theres someone who wants to talk to you. and i was like.. ok pass the phone and it was that girl. and im like oh whats up hows it going ya know. cuz i had tried to help that family a lot. and then shes like im great. i just wanted you to know im getting baptized. and i was like ... "oh cool, when will it be?" shes like this sunday (it was friday) and i was like "cool whos ganna baptize you" and then shes like thats why im calling, i want you to baptize me! and i was like "uhhhh...... can i talk to the assistants??!!"  and they were like ya she wants you to baptize her and i was like well can i? and they said they would ask the mission pres and he said i could! it was way tight but kinda weird. thats what they call "snake" here.. a girl that goes after an elder. but they let me do the baptizm cuz i was already ganna go to portâo (city) to meet for the choir program!. it was amazing.
 Sunday we went to Ponta Grossa to have another Choir presentation!! it was way good. they got us a charter bus and we drove for 3 hours to do it! we got back at midnight and i had to sleep at another elders house!. for a present we got a dvd of one choir presentation we did and it shows me! and a cd that we recorded! ill try to send it to you guys!!!
 Last night me and my comp made a killer pizza!! its a Pizza Doce or sweet pizza ill send you guys a pic! but ya so that was my week. its been pretty intense. but thats cool chris will go to provo too!! he will experiance them both!. his reception will be cool too!!! send me pics of it!!! and him in a suit too!!! i need it!! but hey times up. long email.
love you guys


Elder Arroyo

6/9

Sandra is doing good she asked me to confirm her a member sundayl. i dont like getting in front of everyone and doing blessings. its weird. but ya shes doing great. and ya me and elder skabelund are hitting it well!! i dont have to much time today but quick i will talk. so thats sick chris is about to leave and thanks for his address but can you guys send me the CTM address so i can write him there too. i might still have it but i duno! but thanks for the shoes!!! i will be waiting for them!!! so how are you guys? whats going on at home? i am ganna make you guys another cd of all my pictures and send them to you! theyre great! but i gots to go now!!! love you guys! bye!


Elder Arroyo

2 of the Lords Angels 6/2

So ya our house is coming along just well! and its about to be even better! My comp got transfered!!!! whoooaoaoaoaoao!!! im so happy. i can stop worring too cuz my new comp is Elder Skabelund! i dont know if you guys remember me talking about him but he is from my group from the CTM and when i lived in my first house he was trained by elder Bailey and lived in the other room. so we already know each other and have already kicked it off really good. and hes really organized and obediant! were ready to start of a good transfer! not to mention.... ENGLISH!!!!. but ya so the transfer went down really well. and last Sunday we baptized 2 more. we Finally baptized Sandra and another girl we found named Patricia. Patricia chose me to baptize her so i entered the water! it was good. and our mission president had a goal for our mission to baptize 200 people in the month of may and we got 201!!!! and to those 201 i baptized 5! it was hard work but was so worth it.
i dont know if i have told you guys but this is my mission presidents last month on his mission our new mission president is President Cordon. Hes american he should get here soon! well be really cool!.
Oh ya but let me tell you the baptizimal story about Sandra. so she is the mom of 3 children 2 had just gotten baptized when i got here. she loves the missionaries but just kept saying she wasnt ready for baptizm. so we kept marking dates with her and she just kept telling us that she hadnt found her answer yet. we then did a fast with her for her to feel or find her answer and nothing. but then last friday night, we went over there like always to talk with her (and she always gave food :)... ) and when i get there i would always talk about her baptizmal date which was for the 30th and she was like no... no... no... im not ready yet and were like no your way ready and i just keep saying it... "This Sunday Sandra... Baptism?" and shes like no. no.... so then i kinda gave up and had this feeling like .... "She will never get baptismed " then i was like well can you fry me up some "coxinhas" (my favorite brasillian food. which she makes) and she was like .... ya. so then she was frying them up right and the Oil is boiling and shes just watching them... then out of no where the coxinha exploded and oil like got all over her hands but the weird thing was nothing happened she was like why isnt it burning??? she said it felt like water! but it was boiling in the pot and nothing happened to her.... and we were all like what was that?!?!?! and then like 5 min later the same thing happened but exploded in her face and her face was covered with Burning Oil but it didnt burn her. she simply washed it off and saying. "why isnt it burning me???" and she turned to me and i was like.. Sandra your in the presence of 2 of the Lords Angels... and he is trying to show you the truth. and i told her how that was her answer and she was like ... WOW! and she was like call your leader to do the enterview cuz im ready for baptism!! and she got baptized. everyone joked around saying she got baptized cuz elder arroyo was hungry and wanted a coxinha!!! but it was crazy.
oh ya and on sunday they grabbed me to teach the gospel principals class and just gave me that manual that isnt like the manual that tells you how to teach but its just has the doctorine and i just went. what im trying to say is that its crazy how i am now that i can just take a class of people and talk for 1 hour about a topic... without studying. its that missionary spirit. but dont worry im still studing.
So wow chris is about to hit the CTM thats nuts! Im getting him a package ready. im ganna make him a missionary starter kit. im making copies of all this cool stuff that helped me and that was cool to study and making a notebook of them and like this cool stuff to help get him ready the Book of mormon and stuff. im making CD´s of music that he can listen to on the mission. everything! it will be tight. Chris make sure that you bring an mp3 player on the mission. its better if not an ipod cuz not every lan house has itunes. but ya. well that was my week. hope this ones better. Hows Summer? and please if you can send my package as fast as yall can!!! love you guys


Elder Arroyo

i havent seen to many spiders lately!! 5/26

WHOO!!! Threw 2 more in the water last sunday! Alixander with 17 years of age and his little sister danielle with 9 years of age! they went down really well. were still working with there parents there not married yet. but wow listen to this.... every time i take a picture of the baptisms here some how when i go to look at them a week later there all erased??? i dont understand this camera. and its only the baptism pics. i have baptized 4 people here and taken pictures and i have 0 of the pictures....... it makes me so mad. the pics from sunday already have gotten erased and i looked at them yesterday??. if somone here is deleting them with certainty i will be comming home soon for killing someone!. but anyway ya its hard to find new people. but we have 3 more baptisms lined up for this sunday. one lady whos 30 and here husband left here. shes way excited for baptism stopped drinking coffee and is up for the ride then we got alexanders friend who we started teaching. hes excited as well. he took out his tongue ring and just needs to stop drinking coffee and hes in the water. and we got sandra.... but ya so were doing alright here. next week is transferes. hope my comp goes!. just tell the truth. ya so this brother that fixes things for the church came to our house and put up this huge barbed wire fence above our concrete fence lol so that no one can hop in!! he put new door handles on the house and fixed up everything. he bought us paint and were ganna paint our house today! our house is looking a ton better. and i havent seen to many spiders lately!! so the house is good. my stomach is alright. hurts sometimes then is alright. i have gotten used to it. so ya i have started to get into art ive been doing some drawings. without tracing!!!! whoo! i took a pic of the Jesus Christ picture i drew!. i think its good for somene who never drew in life!!. so ya that was my week. so i need a huge huge favor. I NEED SHOES!! my shoes are for real falling apart. the top half of my shoe is comming off. on both shoes. its horrible. im telling you 2 weeks from now these shoes will be sandels lol. so please as fast as you can send me some new shoes.!!!!other than that im going well here. just one more week till transfers...... please let him go!


Love you guys

Elder Arroyo

Whooo!!!! Chris has like one more month of the "Real Life"

Whats up family! Last week was alright. Our Baptism fell......  but we set another goal for her and she agreed to do a fast with us to see if its right. so me and my comp have been doing all of our work. Our zone has done all its contacts for 3 weeks straight and were going on 4. the record is 5 weeks but everyone has agreed to blow it out of the water. were good!!!. but ya our breakfast was great it was at the Zone Leaders house cuz there in our district and we made pancakes, maple syrup, scrambled eggs (with peppers, cheese, onions.. everything) sandwiches, Yogurt, and Juice!. it was amazing and we already have another activity planned the district that gets the most points on this one gets to have a huge barb e´q!!! and were ganna win!. So the work is going well. we have this one couple that wants to get baptized but there not married so we went to the uhh i dunno how to say it in english but like the place where you officially get married and we talked with them they brought their documents and we marked their marriage for the 12th of june!!! Our members in our ward are ganna help pay. so we marked there baptism on the same day! it will be amazing. so there going along well and we have some other investigators that were helping stop smoking then well throw them in the water too. so the work is moving. me and my comp are doing well too. oh last sunday we had our last music presentation... so they said. but president says were so good that were ganna go to the other stakes that live way far away. hes ganna rent buses and everything. so we got 2 more presentations. president took us all out to this really good resaurant for our good work. and last saterday he had a guy come to our practice to professoinaly record.. well almost professionaly.. but it will be good. well get that CD soon. so how are the kids with ended school. excited. hope chris doesnt fall when he graduates lol!!! but ya hope you all are doing well. im ganna send yall some pics in a sec. you got to see this picture i drew of Jesus. the best thing ive ever drawn!

Love,

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Elder Arroyo

Early Bird 5/12

Ya so im on early today! Im about to go to a Super Mega Breakfast that our district won!!! we had this competition going on these past 2 weeks. out of 3 districts in our zone. it was who could teach the most first lessons got points and who had the most new investigators, baptizimal dates, investigators in sacrament it was all worth points but to get a total of points for the week you had to do all your contacts or they didnt count! but ya our district won!!! whoo so we won a huge breakfast!. but ya it was great talking to you guys on the phone it was just not enough time!!! but 7 more months from here and well be back on the phone. So there were some things i forgot to tell you guys!. So ya sunday i went to lunch and it was way way way far away. like out in the forrest right. but when we got there. The members wife came out and theyre like in the 60´s right. and shes like elders! Come on in and she opens up here arms and im like uhh sister i can hug you. and shes like "Todays mothers day and im every missionarys mom!" and just wraps here arms around me. it was great. i think she even kissed me on the cheek. i cant remember i was like petrified. but ya so she like barbequed and everything it was a wonderful lunch. and they are like the pioneers from brazil. the first registered members in brazil!!! well ther family is. it was their parents who have already died! but it was cool to see the stuff they had!. and then last sunday night we did a family night with a less active family and 2 investigators and i made COOKIES of course. and my cookies are amazing and everyone love them. i left them a bunch of cookie dough too. and they said they made the rest of the cookies and brought it to their work and said that everyone wanted the recipe lol. so im giving the recipe and calling it "The Arroyo" lol. im so good! oh ya so one other thing i need to know. like have you guys bought my shoes yet??. cuz the ones im using now are cracked on the bottom and the leather is ripping on the side! its nuts and its ganna start raining a ton!  but ya. so theres this member in our branch and hes a new member and hes an artist!! and he just loves me now. so he is ganna draw a picture of our family. ( i gave him pictures to base off of) and i want him to paint a picture of you and dad in front of the san diego temple. so you guys got to send me a good picture so i can get it to him and he is making this big painting for me... its will be like this...... there are 2 roads and the view is from where the road forks and then the scenery on the right side (or the road going to the right) is ganna be like city like exacly like curitiba! and im ganna be standing in the road. and on the road to the left is like out in the jungle a dirt road with little houses and its ganna be belem like and theres ganna be chris in the road. both of us in suits and then thers a sign in the middle and its pointing both ways.. one says Belem and the other Curitiba and on the top it will be like "The Best Two Years" cool right. and the guy is professional too!! i cant wait. but its time for me to go already. love you guys!!!!



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Love,

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Elder Arroyo

5/5

Ok ya so i wont write a ton so ill have stuff to talk about. but well call from a members house!. but ya i will call you guys before to confirm. so ya sunday will be packed cuz i got church then lunch and after lunch here you guys will still be at church i think and i got a music program to sing at and i think i gotta be there at 5:30!!!! well have to see how it will go. i will just cut my email now and save it for the phone call. im ganna call you guys like saterday or friday .. well see!. love ya. oh ya we baptized another last saturday! Love ya guys!


Love,

Elder Arroyo

WOW!!!! WHAT A WEEK!!!!

OK, So i dont even know where to start!!! . Ok so i got here right and i told you about those spiders...... well let me tell ya i thought.. ya ill just kill the spiders and done. paradise right....... WOW im killing spiders until today!!! So our house is infested the first night i couldnt sleep. I am so Paranoid!!! i sleep with my head under my sheets. so i was killing little spiders right like the size of my pinky nail and then i go in my room to sleep right and im scouting out to kill the last batch  and i go to shut the door and theres this huge mama one!!! and i scream. literally scream i got the creeps for spiders. and this spider for real was a like the size of a Qaurter (ya know american money) and dont forget these arent no daddy long legs. im talking Brown Recluses!!! but this is just the first of the problems. pretty much everyone in our area looks like a thug and is just waiting to rob me. and our back window is busted from the last time someone broke in the house, today our front door broke. and wouldnt lock i had to take the piece of junk apart and rig it to lock and now we use the back door.... but president gave us authority to rent another house and i got the hook ups with the secretaries on the mish and he looked up some stuff for me and said our house has no contract and we can move whenever. just the hardest part is finding a new house. theres nothing here in this boonies town!!!. but to top it off. when i first got here my comp was slacking off a ton. we would just chill at eternal investigators houses and stuff and then one day we were walking on the street and i just was like "hey dude lets do stuff right... and follow the rules and he was just like...... OK. and did nothing. "last saturday we had a baptism!! WHooo!!!!! 17 kid named Junior and after the baptism were comming back on the bus and theres these girls in our ward and hes just flirting it up and im just getting angry right.... so we get off the bus..... and i went off on him. he was telling me i couldnt run his mission and stuff. so we didnt talk for like 2 days. he wouldnt get up the next morning and everything. so i was pretty stressed!!! then sunday we had our first presentation cuz im in the choir right.. and it was amazing and i left all happy still not talking to my comp.. until i got home to the infested house and my joy went away!! but then on monday we had a zone meeting and the Zone leaders grabbed my comp talked to him then grabbed me and asked about him and stuff. then during the day monday my comp had read the ensign and he just apologized to me and said he wanted to change and from then on weve been great friends. he still does some stuff wrong but listens to me!. so things are getting a lot better here. but wow it was prolly the worst week in my life. i almost asked president to take me out of that area cuz i couldnt sleep, couldnt do my work, was terified that i would get robbed!!! everything. but dont worry i gave my camera to the zone leaders and they have it in there house in their safe. (one of my zone leaders is my old comp Elder Dos Santos!!)but ya and oh ya on Sunday my first day in the Branch my comp made me give the class which we teach sunday school to the girls and boys...? dunno why and then the branch president was like whoa new elder (me) one of the dudes that was ganna give a talk bailed out so you can introduce yourself and give a talk ., and i confirmed junior (kid we baptized) a member. let me tell ya my week was full of tests from the Lord and i didnt think i could survive but i think what got me through was praying. i Prayed so so so much!! and now everything is alright!! today we killed like 6 more huge brown recluses but i still have the creeps at the house but 5 more weeks until next transfer and i hope im out. but were already looking for a new house and i think i found one!!! but ya that was pretty much my week. but ya theres a ton of spiders but im just glad im not going to Belem!!!! Turantula!!!!!!! good luck Chris.!!! oh mom its almost Mothers Day!!!!!! whoo Phone call. we will talk more about it next wednesday and i will call you guys before to confirm and give you the number to call. but yall will need a phone card!!!!! love you guys!!

Love,

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Elder Arroyo

this aint no game anymore

Oh what another Great week!! So as you guys can see i got transfered! I left Vila Isabel with Elder Snowden and i have been transfered to....... São Marcos, which i believe is in São José Dos Pinhais. Right outside of Curitiba, but wow it looks like the boonies. but im already liking it here. so before Elder Snowden had went to Vila Isabel with me he was here in São Marcos right and while he was here some peeps broke into there house and stole his camera and his guitar case!!! but now im here. but we have been informed to look for a new house! So im on the Look!!! and wow this house is a mess too! like hasnt been cleaned in years!!! and Elder Snowden had told me that there were a ton of spiders here and ive already killed like 30 and i was in the house for 2 hours. and there not just any type of spider there brown recluses!!!!! Ya this aint no game anymore. but dont worry ive been cleaning the house really well and my goal is to find a new house this week!!! but ya so my comp is Elder M. Santos. Another brasilian and hes from Fortaleza, good thing too cuz me and Snowden were talking way to much English!!! but now its only Portuguese!! but elder M Santos has about 10 months on his mission and hes Junior! Whoo! im Senior here!! but ya so São Marcos is a branch... small but the Zone Leaders were telling me that it had like a frequence of 40 members but they got up to 90! so well see what i can do here! and ya he also told me that the members have a bad problom with gossiping and that theres only girls here and they flirt with the missionaires and the member talk!!!. so hes like dont let them be alone with your comp! Nuts right. I never was good with woman. But here will be a great. i have a good feeling about this place. So how was yalls week. cool that you and chris got to go back to the temple. its great to go there.  ya about the car situation. if like possible i would like an XTerra :) but ya know thats just a sugestion :) but well see more down the line!. so ya mom that picture didnt come. i was so excited then got so unexcited!. but ya thats pretty much the news around here. So i was thinking, what chris needs for his mission is really good suitcases!. 2 Good ones! cuz man it sucks when you have 2 crappy suitcases and get transfered!!!!!. talking from experiance. it sucked getting here. i had traded my bags a while ago right.. for 2 suitcases that had wheels but when i got to my last area one of the wheels broke off..  so getting here was a pain. we had to walk like forever to our house after we got off the bus. and i got this huge suitcase in my arms. and people are thinking why not roll it. with one wheel!! so ya thats important!. but im pretty sure that thats my email for this week!!!


Love you guys
Love,
Elder Arroyo